It’s already been quite a year for Jacquie Steingold.
   Then again, she’s had quite a life.
   In addition to receiving the Downriver Chapter of NOW’s 2006 Woman of Achievement award, Steingold will soon pick up a lifetime achievement award from the Michigan  Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers on May 18. A self-described feminist social worker, Steingold says her vocation and avocation have dovetailed throughout her career.
    “The wonderful thing about our profession is we’re not just welfare workers,” she said. “We work in a breadth of areas, with the poor, the disenfranchised, the elderly, the mentally ill. More social workers provide mental health services than any other profession.”
    Since earning her Masters degree in 1969, Steingold has worked as a probation officer in juvenile justice, a development director for the Children’s Aid Society and with men on parole for domestic violence crimes. Even before that, she had a mission to help others; she was among the first 30 VISTA volunteers who worked in distressed areas of the U.S.
    The world has changed for the better in some ways, Steingold said. The state has tougher laws now to protect women against rape and domestic violence, and more resources have been made available to help people with disabilities and the elderly.
    However, Michigan’s failing economy means the number of people who need help is growing, and the funds to help them aren’t. A professor with two schools of social work, Steingold has seen more social workers going into private practice as therapists.
    “At the same time,” she said, “I have seen people so impacted by helping refugees and helping the homeless. They realize how important the work is. I think the rigor of social work is very sound, and the internship is critical. They’re in the real world.”
    One of her proudest career moments might be included in her biography for both awards. A professor at Wayne Community College in 1971, she taught classes in church basements, community centers and other facilities. She saw many mothers bringing their children to class and got the idea WCC should offer child care for students.
    “Most classes were in the evening,” she said. “There’s nowhere you can go to get child care at night.”
    With the support of former Detroit Councilwoman Erma Henderson, Steingold wrote a grant and obtained funding through New Center of Detroit for a child care program. She was also among the founding members of the Child Care Coordinating Council of Detroit.
    “I think that contributed to my early feminism,” she said. “How could poor women go to college if they didn’t have the money, transportation and child care? I thought child care was a women’s issue even before my son was born.”
    Steingold has served in many leadership positions within her profession, as well as the feminist movement. She’s currently running for a second time to serve on the National  NOW board, having served from 1994-98. “I believe that’s how you make a difference,” she said.
    Many of the gains women have made in society, in government, in the world are today under attack, Steingold said. And as long as they are, she’ll continue her active involvement. “I will keep doing this work until I die.”